Illinois Insurance

With a unanimous vote of both houses of the Illinois State Legislative last week was the Fitz-Gerald Keane definitively as amended, after five years of unrest, two years of work by a legislative commission, insurance and State division of the Illinois Bar Association. One of the largest state to adopt codes of insurance, the bill required unless the Governor Henry Horner Signature replace all old insurance laws in Illinois. Swart Governor Homer called “one of the best pieces of constructive work for the protection of policyholders in the USA” The code has been widely praised, indeed, that last week, the National Inspectorate for insurance Department officials could also modest protest, it is “not Magna Charta.”

Illinois insurance laws have been geschundene years, experts from insurance companies. Until 1933 was worse than law enforcement. Officially particular entrusted to a director of the Department of Trade & Commerce, control over insurance companies often fell into the hands of lawyers, politicians, which does not yet good at the expense of policyholders. The extent to which the Illinois had an assurance game was suddenly clear, in the year 1932, eight of the nine failures of insurance the USA this year was Illinois. The largest among them, and the third or fourth largest blackout assurance depression, Illinois was life, which had $ 150000000 in politics, if the outstanding siphoning of Chicago’s Hotelmen Stevens, finally, it broke (TIME, Dec. 5, 1932). The consequences resulting cries of dismay made rapid reform Horner Governor’s first term.

Back to the director of the new State Insurance Department was 54-year-old Ernest Palmer, the past ten years, Special Advisor to the Chicago Board of Underwriters. Dry-spontaneous, poker, including Mr. Palmer was assistant counsel for the USA Department of the Interior in 1912, Assistant General Counsel of the National Board of Fire Underwriters from 1913 to 1923. A penalty was therefore within the Office, when he asserts that its estimated long as the laws of Illinois insurance was most often a hodgepodge written in 1869 and the only thing to do, it was clean all the statute books. After two years of work, a fairly strict code for Palmer, executive director was created by two professors at the University of Illinois and the legislature. The Senate killed twice in 1935 and 1936. But the bill has been awarded as a result governor last week, Horner was unchanged in the basic provisions:

1) the need to increase capital and surplus requirements for registration of state to reduce risk in small companies are frying.

2) the limitation on the lives of life insurance companies, health insurance, accident cases.

3) The supervision of investment firms Trust Funds.

4) A greater authority for insurance companies consider the Finance Department and approves all political forms.

5) the condemnation of businesses, “vexatiously and without valid reason” refuse to pay claims.

6) The first review of state regulatory fire insurance rates in Illinois.

Last week, the director Palmer was ill in St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. It had been envisaged, Honorary Governor Horner his victory at the signing of the bill on the bedside table.